WASCAL has expressed its deepest gratitude to the Government and people of Burkina Faso for the tremendous support it has given the institution over the past years. WASCAL also congratulated the country for its up-to-date payment of their country contribution.

This was contained in the speech of the Board Chair of WASCAL, Mr. Peter Dery when they paid a courtesy call on His Excellency S.E.M Pingrenoma Zagré, the Burkina Faso Ambassador to Ghana.

Dr. Moumini Savadogo, the Executive Director of WASCAL also thanked the people of Burkina Faso and called on the ambassador to leverage on his mandate to project the great bilateral relationship between their country and WASCAL, and also the success stories of WASCAL amongst his counterparts. He also used the opportunity to brief the ambassador on the proposed commencement of the construction of the Competence Centre building scheduled for this year.

His Excellency Zagré was pleased to welcome the delegation and pledged his support for the growth of WASCAL in the West African Region.

The WASCAL Competence Centre which houses all the Scientists is based in Burkina Faso. The Government of Burkina Faso has also offered a vast land to WASCAL for the commencement of a Climate Change Centre of Excellence. The multi-purpose edifice, when completed will serve as the hub and point of reference for climate change research Africa. Plans are also far advanced for WASCAL to begin its new Masters Programme in Informatics for Climate Change at the University of Ouaga 1-Prof. Joseph Ki-Zerbo

WASCAL, a climate change service, research and capacity building organization operating within the West African sub-region, has appointed Dr. Moumini Savadogo as the new substantive Executive Director effective 1st January 2018. He takes over from Prof. Jimmy Adegoke who was the Interim Executive Director for nine months.

Dr. Savadogo joins WASCAL with very rich experience of more than 25 years as a Scientist and Project & Programme Manager in Environment and Sustainable Development in Africa, including 15 years at senior management level. He will lead the overall administrative and strategic directions of the organization. He is also responsible for overseeing the efficient and effective day-to-day operations of WASCAL.

Dr. Savadogo has a PhD in Animal Sciences/Sustainable Land Use in crop/livestock systems, Wageningen University, The Netherlands. He also has expertise in Programme development and management (Fundraising, Implementation, Procurement, Monitoring and Evaluation, Budget Management, Human Resources Management and Reporting) and negotiations.

Until his appointment as WASCAL Executive Director, Dr. Savadogo worked as Head of Burkina Faso office of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and natural resources (IUCN) West and Central Africa Program (PACO). He also worked as Scientist for the national Institute of Environment and Agricultural Research (INERA), the Joint Sahelian Progamme of Wageningen University and the University of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso, the Regional coordinator of the W-Arly-Pendjari Programme development (Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger), as well as consultant for several international and national organizations.

He has an excellent knowledge of national and regional policies and strategies on energy, agriculture, ecosystem management, poverty reduction and sustainable development, climate change as well as international agreements on environment. The new Executive Director possesses rich working experience in several West African countries and very familiar with multicultural and multidisciplinary team work.

WASCAL welcomes him to the big family and wishes him all the best in his undertakings as the head of the organization.

With deep sorrow, we announce the demise of our Board Member and 1st Vice Chair, Professor Abdourahamane Konaré, who passed away in the early hours of Thursday, 26th October 2017 after a long and gallant battle against the illness that eventually took him away from us. A good heart has stopped beating; a gentle soul is gone.

Until his untimely death, Professor Konaré served our noble organization with uncommon diligence and complete dedication. He was a founding member of the Task Force that was commissioned to bring about WASCAL and was a member of the inaugural Governing Board representing the Government of Côte d’Ivoire. His tenure was renewed after 3 years of great service to WASCAL and he was elected 1st Vice Chairman of the current Board in 2015.

We have lost one of the few true giants in the African community of climate scientists. We are, however, thankful that Professor Konaré leaves a legacy of scholarly contributions that will outlive him and continue to enrich the careers of the next generation of climate scientists in our region through his relentless and ultimately successful effort to bring High Performance Computing (HPC) capability to West Africa. Sadly, he will not be here with us to witness the official opening of the new HPC Center in Abidjan by His Excellency, Alassane Ouattara, President of Côte d’Ivoire scheduled for 4th December 2017. The official opening of this facility is intended to kick off the 2017 WASCAL Week, which, again thanks to Professor Konaré, we are co-organizing with the Government of Côte d’Ivoire.

On behalf of the Governing Board, our sponsor BMBF, and the Executive Management, we extend our deepest condolences to the family that he left behind, all his friends and colleagues from Côte d’Ivoire and entire WASCAL family. Prof Konaré’s untimely departure leaves us in grief and heartbroken. He will forever remain in our hearts.

Rest in Peace, Prof Abdourahamane Konaré, our Board 1st Vice Chair, our colleague, our friend, our mentor and our hero.

C’est avec une profonde tristesse que nous annonçons le décès du premier vice-président de notre membre du Conseil d’administration, le professeur Abdourahamane Konaré, décédé, le jeudi 26 octobre 2017, suite d’une longue et vaillante lutte contre la maladie qui finalement l’a emporté loin de nous. Un bon cœur a cessé de battre ; une âme douce a disparu.

Le professeur Konaré a servi notre noble organisation avec une diligence inhabituel et un dévouement total, jusqu’à sa mort subite. Il a été l’un des membres fondateurs du groupe de travail qui était chargé de créer WASCAL et aussi un membre du premier conseil d’administration représentant le gouvernement de la Côte d’Ivoire. Son mandat a été renouvelé après 3 années de bonnes prestations à WASCAL et il a été élu présentement, en 2015 comme 1er vice-président du Conseil.

Nous avons perdu l’un des rares véritables géants de la communauté africaine des climatologues. Nous sommes toutefois reconnaissants que le professeur Konaré à laisser un héritage de contributions scientifiques qui lui survivront et enrichiront les parcours professionnels de la prochaine génération de climatologues dans notre région grâce à ses efforts incessants et fructueux pour apporter la capacité Informatique de Haute Performance (HPC) à l’Afrique de l’Ouest. Malheureusement, il ne sera pas parmi nous à l’ouverture officielle du nouveau Centre HPC d’Abidjan par Son Excellence Alassane Ouattara, Président de la Côte d’Ivoire, prévue pour le 4 décembre 2017. L’ouverture officielle du Centre est prévue pour marquer le coup d’envoi) de la semaine de WASCAL 2017, qui, encore une fois grâce à Konaré, que nous collaborons avec le gouvernement de la Côte d’Ivoire.

Au nom du Conseil d’Administration, de nos partenaire de BMBF et de la Direction Exécutive de WASCAL, nous offrons nos plus sincères condoléances à la famille qu’il a quitté subitement , à tous ses amis et collègues de Côte d’Ivoire et à toute la famille entière de WASCAL. Le départ prématuré du professeur Konaré nous laisse dans le chagrin et le cœur brisé. Il restera pour toujours dans nos cœurs.

Repose en paix, Prof Abdourahamane Konaré, notre 1er vice-président, notre collègue, notre ami, notre mentor et notre héros.

WASCAL participated in the Germany Goes Ghana- Open Doors, Open Minds event in Accra to mark the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Germany and Ghana under the auspices of the German Ambassador to Ghana, H.E. Mr. Christoph Retzlaff.

Dr. Divine Odame Appiah, an alumnus of WASCAL, from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Climate Change and Land Use, participated in the discussion forum that sought to deliberate on opportunity creation in Ghana. In his submission, he emphasized on the need to develop a problem-solving attitude among the youth in the country. He explained that YOUTH is an acronym which denotes “Young (Y), Outstanding (O), Unique (U), Talented (T), and Happy (H). Young (Y) defines the age category of before adulthood. This he said, is the stage where youth is at its best and both positive and negative energies could be released, depending on the mindset and perspectives about life and what they want to become. Outstanding; Youth are expected to exhibit excellence in whatever they do. Whatever they do, must be done with utmost precision so as to stand out. Unique; youth are what they present themselves to be. Dr. Appiah underscored the fact that, as a young adult/youth, no one can be you and that everything that belongs to you is exclusively your attributes and character. Hence you are the product of your character and there is no room to blame someone for your failures. This also means, you are the architect of your successes as well. Talented; every human being is endowed with some skills, talents and abilities that distinguishes him/her from others. It is up to the individual to discover that special gift that sets him/her apart from other. It is also essential to channel these gifts into profitable ventures. Happy; happiness is relative; however, a general connotation will be when the individual is satisfied and fulfilled in whatever he/she does. When a task is accomplished, it brings a sense of happiness to the individual.

Dr. Appiah linked his submission to the scholarship being offered by WASCAL through its Graduate Studies Programme which is aimed at building the next generation of West African Scientists to help solve the challenges of climate change in the sub-region, under the sponsorship of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
Germany goes Ghana – Open doors, Open Minds attracted students, graduates, young professionals as well as the general public from Ghana. The objective of the event was to create awareness among the Ghanaian youth about the opportunities available to them as a result of the German-Ghanaian bilateral cooperation and to exhibit some of the major achievements after 60 years of a vibrant, dynamic and divers bilateral relationship.